1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag system of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a squib connector connecting structure of an inflator.
2. Description of Related Art
An airbag is used to protect a passenger from an impact during a vehicle accident. In recent years, various airbags, such as airbags for passengers seated on the rear seats and airbags against side collision, have been provided as well as airbags for a driver's seat and a passenger seat.
An airbag (exactly, an airbag cushion) is folded so as to be easily deployed, and an inlet of the airbag is connected to a gas outlet of the inflator. If an airbag control unit receives a collision signal stronger than a predetermined intensity from a collision detecting sensor and generates an inflator operating signal, the inflator operates.
Meanwhile, a squib connector, which is connected to main wiring of an airbag, is connected to the inflator. Squib connector 10 is shown in FIG. 1A.
The inflator is provided with a retainer 20 shown in FIG. 1B so as to be connected to squib connector 10.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, retainer 20 is provided with shunt terminals 21, and shunt bars 31 of a shunt bar connector 30 provided below the retainer 20 are inserted into a central portion of retainer 20.
Before the connection of squib connector 10, shunt bar 31 and shunt terminal 21 come in contact with each other, thereby forming a closed-circuit state. When squib connector 10 is inserted into retainer 20 and a push slider 11 is pushed, shunt terminal 21 is separated from shunt bar 31 and the state is converted into an open-circuit state. In this case, a squib connector terminal 12 is connected to shunt terminal 31, so that an airbag deployment signal can be sent.
Meanwhile, there are problems in that squib connector 10 can be broken or separated due to operator's mistakes or the interference with peripheral components when being connected to inflator 40. Since most components of an airbag cannot be recycled, the loss of cost is very large due to this.
Since squib connector 10 protrudes from the surface of inflator 40 to the outside as shown in FIG. 3, the above-mentioned problems of the breakage and separation of the connector more frequently occur.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.